Theological Commentary: Click Here
As we turn
to Romans 8, we are primed to hear Paul’s exhortation to live in the Spirit instead
of living in the flesh. Paul begins by
reminding us that in Christ we are called to live outside of the desires of the
flesh. Those who live in the flesh are
bound to die. But those who live in the
Spirit live in God’s ways and live in His ways because we have Christ in us.
Paul then
goes on to remind us that those who are in Christ groan in anticipation with all
of creation when we look at the world.
That doesn’t mean we despise the world around us. Far be it from
that! God created this world for us to
live in and enjoy. When we groan, it is
because we see the reality in comparison to the way god created us to be. We groan because we see a world that isn’t living
up to its created potential. We see a
world that chases its own sinful desires instead of chasing after
godliness. We groan because we cannot
wait for God’s reality to be life.
While we may
groan because we see a broken world around us, we also live in confidence. We live as conquerors because we know that
God has already won. When Christ died on
the cross, God sealed the future. His
reality will win out. We may deal with a
sinful world around us. We may live in a
world that doesn’t live up to God’s desire for us. But we know that in the end God will conquer and
He will bring us with Him. God justifies
us; He can bring us into salvation.
Where does
that leave us? It leaves us in a mix of states. We are in the world, groaning for it to live
better than it does. We are immensely
hopeful because we know what is coming.
We live free, because God has freed us from the bondage of sin. Yet we live in suffering because the world
does not all share our perspective. But
above all else we know that we live in an inseparable relationship with our Creator.
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